BASIS: A New Backscattering Spectrometer at the SNS

A new spectrometer named BASIS has recently entered the general user program at the Spallation Neutron Source. BASIS is an acronym for Backscattering Silicon Spectrometer. While there are several operational reactor-based spectrometers that utilize backscattering reflection from silicon single crystals, such as IN10 and IN16 [1] at the ILL, France; HFBS [2] at the NCNR, USA; and SPHERES [3] at the FRM-II, JCNS, Germany, BASIS is the first silicon backscattering spectrometer built on a spallation neutron source. Conceptually, it is similar to previously built time-of-flight backscattering spectrometers that utilize reflections from pyrolytic graphite or mica, such as IRIS [4] and OSIRIS [5] at the ISIS, UK; LAM-80 [6] at the KENS, Japan; or MARS [7] at the SINQ, Switzerland.